TORONTO - It is most fitting that the Archdiocese of Toronto welcomed its two newest priests during the celebration of the Eucharist, said Cardinal Thomas Collins.

“It is of course most fitting for the ordination to the priesthood to occur within the context of the holy sacrifice of the Mass because this is the thing we associate the priesthood with and rightly so,” said Collins during his homily at the May 9 ordination ceremony at St. Michael’s Cathedral that saw Fr. David Twaddle, a native of Unionville, Ont., and Jamaican-born, Toronto-raised Fr. Ricardo Davis welcomed into the priestly fraternity.

“It is the Holy Eucharist that is our central point as disciples of Jesus Christ and so our most sacred moments are inserted into the Holy Eucharist.”

And while these men may call themselves members of the brotherhood of priests, the cardinal reminded them to never forget that it is not their priesthood.

“It is not my priesthood, it is the priesthood of Jesus Christ,” he said. “(And) to be a priest of Jesus Christ is a sublime vocation.”

Twaddle said standing at the front of a packed cathedral for the first time as a priest brought with it a unique sensation.

“Words can’t describe it,” he said. “To feel the love and the prayers of everybody in this cathedral church, it is a bit surreal. It was fantastic.”

Twaddle will now serve in Mississauga, Ont., at St. Francis Xavier Church.

Fellow St. Augustine’s Seminary alumni Davis said the Ordination Mass felt like putting the final piece into a jigsaw puzzle, finally revealing the full picture.

“It feels like all of the pieces of the puzzle are connected for the first time,” he said. “It feels overwhelming in a really good way. It just feels like such a good fit, a comfortable fit, like this is what I am meant to do.”

He will be posted to St. Patrick’s parish in Markham, Ont.

More than a thousand family, friends and well-wishers were in attendance including many clergy. Fr. Scott Birchall was among those welcoming the archdiocese’s latest priests. Birchall became “close friends” with the pair during their time together as seminarians.

“It truly is fantastic getting to welcome Fr. Dave and Fr. Rick into the brotherhood of priests,” said Birchall, one of seven ordained at the cathedral last May. “It is great to have them as brother priests.”

]]>evan.boudreau@catholicregister.org (Evan Boudreau, The Catholic Register)Canada: Toronto-GTAMon, 11 May 2015 10:00:00 -0400New priest rediscovered his love of the Church in aftermath of 9/11https://www.catholicregister.org/item/20228-new-priest-rediscovered-his-love-of-the-church-in-aftermath-of-9-11
https://www.catholicregister.org/item/20228-new-priest-rediscovered-his-love-of-the-church-in-aftermath-of-9-11

TORONTO - Fr. David Twaddle always wanted a career where his work would be close to Heaven, but being a priest wasn’t his first choice.

“If you were to tell me 15 years ago that I would be ... preparing for ordination to the priesthood I would never have believed you,” said Twaddle prior to his May 9 ordination to the priesthood at St. Michael’s Cathedral. “When I was in high school I thought I had my whole life planned out. I had a huge passion for aviation and I really enjoyed working with my hands so I really wanted wanted to be an aircraft mechanic.”

So after graduating from high school in Unionville, Ont., Twaddle headed to Canadore College in North Bay, Ont., to study aircraft mechanics.

“When I graduated in 2001 I got my first job at Buttonville Municipal Airport working for a flight training school,” said the 45-year-old.

That September brought Twaddle’s aviation dreams crashing down when two planes slammed into the World Trade Centre’s two towers.

“After the attacks the aviation industry turned upside down,” he said. “I lost my job along with many of my colleagues and finding a job back in aviation was almost impossible. I was unemployed for a few months trying to get back into the work force and while I had all this free time on my hands I found a Bible in my room I hadn’t touched in a few years and I started reading through it.”

As Twaddle turned the pages day-by-day, he began “rediscovering and relearning” the faith he grew up immersed in as a young altar server.

Eventually Twaddle’s mother caught wind of her son’s newfound foundation in faith and invited him to Sunday Mass.

“Returning to Mass on Sunday morning after so many years was a wonderful experience,” he said. “I wanted more and I kept coming back.”

Feeling a renewed sense of peace, joy and faith, Twaddle became more involved in the Church. He was invited to a Called by Name conference where he heard Cardinal Thomas Collins speak about the priesthood and answering a vocation calling.

“This is when I thought maybe Jesus is calling me to be a priest,” he said. “But I struggled with this for the next couple of years until in 2008 I decided that I needed to leave my life behind and focus on this possible calling.”

That September, seven years after losing his dream job, Twaddle became a seminarian at Toronto’s St. Augustine’s Seminary.

“And I don’t regret this decision one bit,” said the new priest who will server at St. Francis of Xavier Church in Mississauga, Ont.